<p>i keep seeing these and i'm wondering how exactly they work, and which colleges are known to use them.</p>
<p>They are letters sent typically by the most highly selective schools to the applicants they will admit, but can’t formally admit before their admit dates. It’s like getting an intention to admit letter that says you’re gonna get admitted so you can relax now. Some of the schools that send them are the Ivies and other most selective schools in the nation.</p>
<p>If you’re a well qualified candidate for a competitive school, they’ll send you a likely letter indicating that you will be offered admission once decisions come out. They do this to give themselves a head start marketing themselves to you. Typically, URMs (including females sometimes) and athletes have the greatest chance of getting a likely, but highly qualified people who aren’t necessarily under-represented sometimes get them too.</p>
<p>They only go out to a tiny percentage of admitted students, though, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t get one as the majority of accepted students at any college don’t.</p>